Meteoroid Detectors

Description

This experiment was designed to measure the number of meteoroid impacts on the Pioneer 10 spacecraft. The instrument was sensitive to meteoroids of mass approximately 1E-9 g. The instrumentation consisted of 234 cells pressurized with an argon-nitrogen mixture. Penetration of the 25-micrometer-thick skin of the cell resulted in the loss of gas at a rate proportional to the size of the hole. Gas loss was detected with a cold cathode device. The cells were initially pressurized to 1175 torrs at 295 deg Kelvin. The cells were formed by welding together two sheets of stainless steel in a configuration resembling an air mattress. The exposed area of each cell was 2.45E-3 sq m. The cells were mounted on the back of the high gain antenna dish. For a description of the experiment see Humes, D. H. et al., 1974, J. Geophys. Res., v. 79, pp. 3677-3684. This instrument was turned off in October 1980.